Evidently, the treasure hunt format was an excellent guarantee of success, so why not use it for the family announcement? Here, instead of Virgi, the protagonists were the children of the house, but I have to admit that there weren’t many noticeable differences…
We were all gathered at my parents’ house in Traversetolo, near Parma, to celebrate Christmas Eve, and once again I had prepared a few rhymes, as I had by now got the hang of it (although I still had a little help). The first one, read by me to kick off the event, went like this:
Behold, for this is truly a surprise,
not just a gift, but quite a daring prize.
For Samu, fearless knight so bold and true,
who leads his cousins, guiding all his crew.
If hard the hunt, do not give in to fear,
your loyal mate is waiting very near.
Not just a cousin, but a clever sprite,
the third within a band of sheer delight.
Now, can you guess just who this lad may be?
His mother holds the clue for only thee!
Samuele was chosen to lead the games: he had to solve the riddles and deliver the gifts he found along the way to his younger cousins. In this way we also fulfilled our duties as good uncle and aunt. The reading of the last riddle – the one that explicitly revealed the wedding announcement – was, of course, entrusted to my mother. Unfortunately, we don’t have a video to share with you, but I assure you that we would have loved to post it. With the words “If Puglia’s warmth feels just so right, / let’s not delay the wedding night!”, there was a moment of complete confusion. Both my parents stared at the paper for three or four seconds – my father with his mouth wide open, while my mother’s eyes were wide open and she had turned such a bright shade of red that it was hard to distinguish her face from the Christmas sweater she was wearing. Surprise!
For the announcement to our family in Puglia, the recipient could only be Grandma Anna, of course. We went the extra mile for her: we even wrote a whole sonnet together (in Petrarchan style, but let’s skip the technicalities here…). I don’t need to transcribe it for you – it’s on the second page of the invitation you received.1 The only difference is that it wasn’t written with a quill and it was entitled Sonnet for Grandma. After the usual Christmas feast, we caught a flight just in time to make it to the Santo Stefano lunch (in Italy, also the day after Christmas is a thing, what did you aspect?) at Virgi’s parents’ house. After all, we like to keep a balanced diet even during the holidays… And when it was time for presents, we unveiled our final surprise. We actually have a little video to make this announcement, thanks to a well-placed accomplice. However, as a good part of the household is hard of hearing, and Granny’s reading was rather soft and delicate, the news didn’t quite go down all at once…
In any case, it was another wonderful moment, perfectly crowned by Paola and Antonio’s big dogs with jumps, yelps and joyful barks!
- The chapel, dear unto our kin of old,
more ancient still upon its solemn square,
knows well how Nicola’s weight to hold and bear,
a stage where wonders ever shall unfold.
Who could have dreamed another heir so bold,
who bore this noble lineage rich and rare,
would picture, with me – beyond compare! –
to reach that place in but a heartbeat cold?
The time has come to plan the festal cheer,
to send out heralds far and wide to tell,
proclaiming joy to every listening ear:
“Upon the day when harvest draws so near,
our vows betrothed in love we shall compel,
and thus shall rise a family yet more dear!” ↩︎
unpiccolomatrimonio 